Vader met kind 1758 - 1808

Editor: This little watercolor and pencil drawing, "Vader met kind," Father with Child, made sometime between 1758 and 1808, is delightful! There’s such tenderness in the way the father holds the child. What stands out to you when you look at this piece? Curator: It's fascinating to consider the materiality of this image – the cheap paper, the simple pigments, the easily accessible pencil. This wasn't an artwork meant for display in a grand salon. This was everyday, quotidian art, reflective of the social context of artistic production in that era. Who had access to creating images, what materials were available, and what did they choose to depict? Those are the questions it brings to my mind. Editor: So, you are saying the act of making is more interesting that who it portrays? Curator: It’s interwoven, isn't it? Think about the labor involved in producing even something as seemingly simple as paper and pencils during that period. Someone had to grow flax, process it into linen for the paper pulp. Someone had to mine graphite, shape it. And who would be buying it? What does it tell us about the growing market for such materials, accessible to middle class for drawings such as this? How did art materials become available to common people? This drawing isn't just a depiction of a father and child, it’s an artifact of its own production, reflecting the changing dynamics of labor, materials, and social access in the 18th century. Editor: I see. By focusing on the “stuff” of the drawing – the materials and how they were made – we can learn a lot about the broader social and economic picture. That gives me a lot to think about. Curator: Exactly! Thinking about art through the lens of material conditions opens up exciting avenues for understanding not only art but society itself.